Sunday, January 29, 2006

A couple of years ago Thomas Frank expanded on a thesis that he first wrote about in Harpers when he produced a book called 'What's the Matter with Kansas?" Essentially, he was suggesting, with good evidence to back it up, that people living in the shrivelled heartland of the American Red States were consistently voting against their own best interests when they stuck with the Republicans.

The Republicans' numbers are in the dirt but they are going to win decisively on the optimistic issues of endless war and endless debt. The Democrats' numbers are substantially better but they will never win anything because they are icky."

And they're both right, of course, because the Rovians have already won one round by riding the back of the vile beast with two backs that are endless war and endless debt.

But what about us up here in Canuckistan, we who currently have no war and no debt?

What if we were to take Digby's statement and replace the monikers 'Republican' and 'Democrat' with 'Conservative' and 'Liberal'?

Which I know sounds as wild-eyed and whacko as David Frum's modulated voice on CBC Radio One sounds moderate and reasonable.

But think about this: Our own media consolidation has continued unabated and, even when he was running at his faux pinkest during the recent campaign, the Harpoon was still making veiled threats about dismantling the CBC.

Which makes one wonder if maybe our very own version of a "Press The Meat" media is all set to become a northern enabler of the endless inversion.

And that reminds me...... I remember that Orwell said that 'War is Peace' in 1984, but did he ever say that 'Debt is Wealth'?